[P4] reduced release timelines tremendously. Before, it could take up to a few hours. I had to download a copy of the source code, get all of the relevant test SDKs, strip out a hardcoded list of files, and then start the whole process over again.
Crytek, an independent video game developer, publisher, and technology provider, has witnessed vast improvements in their CRYENGINE game engine development pipeline since implementing Perforce P4, formerly Helix Core. The version control and collaboration platform has helped Crytek achieve rapid release cycles, complete traceability, and a single source of truth.
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Why Crytek Relies on Perforce P4
- Single Source of Truth
- Rapid Release Cycles
- Traceability and Quality Gates
- Integration with Jenkins for CI/CD
- Streamlined Binary Management
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New Challenges in VR
Crytek has spent nearly two decades perfecting software product development for gaming. CRYENGINE, their AAA game engine, has been used to develop games on the most popular platforms, like PlayStation, Windows, and Xbox.
Crytek is a big believer in the transformative potential of VR/AR in game development. That is why CRYENGINE actively supports all VR hardware technologies, including:
- Oculus Rift
- HTC VIVE
- Open-Source VR
- PlayStation VR
Known for pushing the limits of both gameplay and technology, Crytek’s evolution has turned to VR. The company developed the award-winning titles “The Climb” and “Robinson: The Journey.”
Maintaining the quality — and quantity — of their product code has never been more crucial to the global studio. To do this, the studio uses Perforce P4, the enterprise version control platform from Perforce. With the help of his team, David Kaye, CRYENGINE Lead System Engineer at Crytek, has achieved efficient version control organization.
The faster release cycles, support for testing, and single source of truth aligns with Crytek’s product development roadmap.
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How P4 Enabled Faster Release Cycles
Crytek began using P4 more than 10 years ago to fill a gap in their development pipeline. At one time, version control was an afterthought for Crytek.
As their product grew, along with demand and the number of users collaborating, an enterprise-grade versioning tool was essential to keep their workflows organized. P4, with its proven industry success, was the perfect solution.
“We’ve been able to version digital assets and store them more efficiently. It’s meant we can be a lot more experimental. We can move a lot faster with the work that we’re doing, and we can branch things up and test them. If they don’t work at first, we know it’s not a problem because of [P4],” says Kaye.
P4 Branching Features Help Enforce Stricter Quality Processes
“Stable development doesn’t sound exciting, but it just makes everyone’s work better. Development has become a lot more convenient with Perforce. It’s less hassle and less stress to branch and merge,” says Kaye.
Crytek relies on P4 to help maintain control over its testing environment, ensuring only the highest quality code makes its way into the release branch.
“When anybody wants to submit changes to our main development branch, they have to run it through our trial system to compile and test it,” says Kaye. “We have strict requirements on submitting code to branches. Some organizations let you submit code instantly, but we put barriers in place to maintain quality.”
That’s also because a single change to the engine can block entire game development teams. There is so much at stake, and so many developers, managers, and admins to keep track of. It’s imperative to streamline process and change management to ensure that no errors make their way into a release branch.
Improving Developer Productivity With P4 and P4 Code Review
Crytek improves developer productivity by using P4 Code Review (formerly Helix Swarm), a collaborative code review tool included with P4. P4 Code Review's Jenkins integration automatically fires off builds and tests when a developer initiates a review. This eliminates the need for custom tooling and multiple Continuous Integration (CI) services.
“We make fairly extensive use of pre-submit triggers. Even for simple things like ensuring the code review has passed or users aren’t submitting identical files,” said Kaye.
P4 Release Timelines Reduced Tremendously
The game development process itself has never been faster for Crytek.
Crytek uses P4 to feed an accelerated, automated Continuous Delivery (CD) release workflow that is supported by two separate build farms. They also implemented an automated system for real-time testing of their main development branch.
“I can do the final source code release in about half an hour,” says Kaye, adding that he suspects, in time, he could even get it down to as few as five minutes.
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Crytek Succeeds With Virtual Reality
Crytek is uniquely positioned to compete in the VR market. The trend toward augmented reality carries a significant data burden to support. Within a given VR system, studios must manage four- to eight-fold increases in asset file size, compared to traditional console products.
No version control solution is better equipped to support this vast quantity of data than P4. With preferred asset management features and performant WAN speed, there’s simply no platform solution better in gaming than P4.
It’s a competitive edge that is paying off. Both of the studio’s VR titles have garnered accolades for their innovations, including Best Presentation for “Robinson: The Journey” and Best VR Experience for “The Climb” at the German Computer Game Awards (Deutscher Computerspielpreis, DCP) in 2016.
Together, P4 and Crytek empower development studios to bring their unique visions to life.
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